This document discusses how employee assistance programs (EAPs) may evolve by 2028 in a world impacted by rapid technological change. It predicts that in 2028: 1) EAPs will deliver services through innovative digital means like text/video counseling on new devices, but will remain "tech proof" as they focus on human-to-human communication and short-term interventions. 2) EAPs will have opportunities to grow globally and serve a diverse population across different cultures, generations, races and genders. 3) EAP professionals will use advanced digital tools and data to identify the best resources and optimize interventions for clients, while ensuring client data and systems remain secure. 4) The

1. EAP in 2028
is employee assistance “tech proof”?
Presenter
Marina London, LCSW, CEAP

2. Mini mental status exam
Three unrelated concepts:
• “Tech proof”
• 2028
• Employee assistance
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3. So… I went to Vegas
I hadn’t been there since 1972
And all of my friends said “wait until you see how much it’s changed.”
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4. …I wanted to have the complete Vegas experience
…the slot machine was invented in 1895
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5. …blackjack was first played in the 18th century
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6. …Cirque du Soleil
The modern circus dates from the 18th century
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7. …comedy
is as old as the ancient Greeks
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8. …Magic has been around forever
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9. …beautiful women have been on display since
antiquity
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10. That’s when it hit me
• The Vegas experience: playing the slots
and blackjack, going to the circus, magic
and comedy shows, existed before
computers and the Internet.
• It hasn’t changed at all.
• Las Vegas is "tech proof”
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11. What do I mean by “Tech proof”
• Those objects, activities, feelings or
experiences that continue to exist
• regardless of advances in technology
and science.
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12. 2028 is 12 years from now
In a speech about “The Future”, Al Gore stated:
• There is no prior period of change that
remotely resembles what humanity is about
the experience.
• We have gone through revolutionary periods
before. But not as powerful or as filled with
peril and opportunity - as the ones beginning
to unfold.
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13. Facts about the world in 2028
• Islam will be the world's largest religion with 2.2 billion
followers
• The "average” person will be a 34 year man from India
• 50% of today's jobs will be replaced by artificial
intelligence
• It will be possible to store the entire contents of the
Internet on DNA
• Most cars will be driverless
• 1 in 3 people will live beyond 100 years of age.
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14. And what will that world look like?
• “Borrowed” 9 of Fast Company magazine’s
key predictions for the next 20 years
• and thought about what they mean for EA
• http://www.fastcompany.com/3052872/twenty-predictions-for-the-next-20-years
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15. Prediction 1: speed will triumph
Every industry has to be prepared for
frequent iteration and redefinition and
embrace change.
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16. Implication for EA
EA incorporate evidence based practices and
knowledge – as they develop
• EAPs will delivers services in novel ways through
text/chat/video-counseling
• on cutting edge devices – apple watch
• Include the use of evidence based apps
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17. Prediction 2: Malala will build
• Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel Peace Prize as
a teenager
• She represents the leading edge of a cohort:
young talent growing up in obscure corners of
the globe.
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18. Implication for EA
• Huge opportunities in China, India, and Africa
for EAP growth and practice.
• US EA professionals may be restricted to video
counseling in your state but not the world
• Opportunity to deliver remote management
consultation and services in Siberia
• Maybe even on Mars – ‘cause we are def
going there in the 2030s
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19. Prediction 3: Digital Tools Will Unlock Opportunity
• Inequality remains rampant across
the United States and around the
world.
• But rising mobile penetration offers
the potential to shift that dynamic.
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20. Implication for EA
• The clients of tomorrow will not be
confined by geography
• Nor will employee assistance
professionals
• Return to the office model – except it
will be a virtual office enabled by the
global spread of the Internet and
mobile devices.
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21. Prediction 4: Diversity will deepen
• Our population is becoming increasingly
heterogeneous.
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22. Implication for EA
Get ready to serve:
• five generations of
• multi racial,
• multi ethnic
• And multi gendered clients.
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23. Prediction 5: Professional Training Will Be Rewritten
• As our knowledge expands beyond any
human ability to retain mass quantities of
information,
• the EA professionals of the future will have
to become data interpreters,
• tapping into Watson-like technical tools to
both evaluate situations and optimize
interventions.
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24. Implication for EA
• We will access the best tools, resources and
interventions for our clients – instantly – during
our meetings
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25. Prediction 6: for EAPs,
cybersecurity Will Be Costly
• Every company is a "tech company” -
because we all use technology to operate.
• We are all vulnerable to cyberdisruption
• whether from hackers or incompetence.
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26. Implication for EA
• Are your social networks HIPAA compliant?
• Do you understand encryption?
• Are your client records safe?
• Under what circumstances and how will you
release EAP records?
• You may need to hire an expert to be sure
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27. Prediction 7: We Will All Be Family
• The ongoing wave of technological
change will only draw us into closer
proximity.
• It will be increasingly difficult to ignore
the troubles in other parts of the globe.
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28. Implication for EA
• Any terrorist attack creates anxiety everywhere in
the world and may lead to a client calling EAP
because they no longer feel safe.
• Pandemics like the Zika virus.
• Think globally.
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29. Prediction 8: DNA Will Be Unstoppable
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The decoding of the human genome has
already launched a wave of new treatments
and approaches.
Inspiring as these examples are, the impact of
genetic data is in its infancy.

30. Implication for EA
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Many mental disorders will be treated with
individually targeted medication. Will the role
of talk therapy change?

31. Prediction 9: Human Empathy Will Be Central
• As machine learning and artificial
intelligence penetrate ever more deeply
into the workplace,
• the one arena that will never be
usurped by technology is human-to-
human communication.
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32. Implication for EA
EAP Core Technology:
• “Consultation with, training of, and assistance to
work organization leadership”
• “Use of constructive confrontation, motivation,
and short-term intervention with employee clients
to address problems that affect job performance”
• relevant in 2016, still relevant in 2028
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33. Remember those 3 concepts?
EAP
“Tech Proof”
“2028”
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34. Contact
Marina London, LCSW, CEAP
www.iwebu.info
webeditor@eapassn.org
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